Why website prices vary so much
If you ask three developers for a quote, you may get three very different numbers. Usually that's because the quotes don't describe the same thing. One covers only the design and a single page, another adds copy, photos, two languages and search setup, a third builds in booking. You can only compare prices once it's clear what's included.
Broadly, the market has three tiers. The cheapest is a ready-made template that you fill in yourself or have filled in. In the middle is a business website with a custom design. The most expensive is a site with software inside it: booking, ordering, a customer database or an online shop. None of these is better or worse, they're simply built for different needs.
What a website's price depends on
- Number of pages. A single page can hold your company introduction, services and contact details. Each separate subpage, such as a service or case study page, is extra work.
- Languages. A second language means translated copy, a language switcher and language versions marked up correctly for search. A third language is added the same way.
- Design. Adapting a template is quicker. A design built from your brand colours, fonts and photos takes longer, but your site won't look like your neighbour's.
- Features. Booking, an online shop, a newsletter or an admin panel are software, not just a page. They are always quoted separately.
- Copy and images. If the text and photos already exist, the work goes faster. If they still need to be written or shot, that's a job in its own right.
- Maintenance after launch. Updates, backups and content changes are an ongoing cost worth including in your budget from the start.
What you get for €290
A simple Brändilabor business website starts from €290. It's a site designed to introduce one business, built around your brand rather than a template. The site is static HTML, so it loads quickly on phones too and doesn't need constant plugin updates.
The site includes work that people often ask for separately later: titles, descriptions and structured data for search, a sitemap, a privacy policy and cookie consent, and security headers. All of this is done while the site is being built, not afterwards.
When the price goes up
Once a site has to do work on its own, it's already software. For Papa Aliferous OÜ, for example, we built a three-language website with a booking system and an admin panel where the owner can see enquiries, bookings, customers and invoices. On the Sillametsa Talu site, the owner can edit the text, the gallery and even the colours of the blocks. The Little Bridge Foundation site has a donation flow and newsletter management.
Solutions like these are quoted separately. At Brändilabor, one clearly defined system, such as booking or an admin panel, starts from €890. The price is agreed before work begins and doesn't change along the way.
Running costs after launch
On top of the website price, there's the domain and hosting every year. These are in your name and paid by you, so everything stays yours even if we stop working together. It's also worth thinking about maintenance: someone needs to keep the site updated, make backups and change prices or photos. Brändilabor website maintenance costs €39 a month.
How to compare quotes
- Ask whether the design is a template or made for you.
- Ask whether copy, search setup and GDPR are included in the price.
- Ask who owns the domain and hosting.
- Ask whether the source files and code are handed over.
- Ask what it costs to change the site after launch.
So you don't have to decide on a promise, we make the first design sample for free. You see a real website, not a picture of one, and only then decide whether to go ahead.
